When he was ten years old, he picked up a piece of waste paper in the iron cage of a freak show.
When she was fifteen, she picked him up.
Sophia has a habit.
She likes to put away things that no one wants.
Broken books, missing corners of music boxes, stray cats that are freezing to death.
The bookstore owner said that few of the things she picked up could not survive.
She doesn't feel like she's kind.
She just felt that some things were not broken, but no one wanted them anymore.
Later, she stole a child from the cage.
Teach him to read, teach him to write, teach him how to distinguish the world into "can be believed" and "cannot be believed".
She thought she was raising a child.
— — — —
The first thing Eric learned in the cage was to trust no one.
The second thing is to remember everyone who was near him.
Because approaching often means leaving.
But she is different.
She wouldn't call him a monster.
I won't leave without leaving the book behind.
Nor does he regard him as "something to be watched" like others.
She just shows up again and again.
Like some kind of unreasonable exception.
He remembered that she was afraid of the cold, that she drank tea without sugar, and that she would pull her scarf up to her chin when reading.
These details were meaningless, but he remembered them over and over again.
Became a habit.
It has become something that cannot be lost.
Until one day, she disappeared.
He said, "Will you come back?"
She said: "Yes."
He believed it.
Later, he really waited for a long time.
Wait until the world becomes very quiet.
Waiting to "believe" becomes a danger in itself.
She stole the monster in the cage home and taught him to read and write.
Years later, he built an underground palace for her.
Then, he locked her in.
[Spin-off fanfic of "Phantom of the Opera"]
Intention: To be seen and redeemed
